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  • Rachel Reeves – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Rachel Reeves – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rachel Reeves on 2016-05-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what funding his Department has provided for (a) scientific excellence, (b) renewable energy in the Humber, (c) food production in North Yorkshire, (d) advanced manufacturing in South Yorkshire and (e) finance and tech in West Yorkshire since the publication of the Long-Term Economic Plan for Yorkshire and Northern Lincolnshire in February 2015.

    Anna Soubry

    This Government is committed to supporting scientific excellence. That is why in Spending Review 2015 we protected science resource funding from its current level of £4.7 billion per year in real terms for the remainder of the Parliament, and why we are investing in new scientific infrastructure on a record scale, delivering on the £6.9 billion science capital commitment in our manifesto.

    The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills is working with universities, cities, local enterprise partnerships, and businesses to map research and innovation strengths through a series of science and innovation audits. As part of this, Sheffield University and the Sheffield City Region have been selected, as part of a wider consortium to take part in the first wave of these audits. Linked to other Northern Powerhouse groups Sheffield will be exploring the potential to develop the global competitiveness of advanced manufacturing in the north of England.

    We are committed to supporting long term economic growth across Yorkshire and North Lincolnshire. My department is contributing to the cross-government local growth fund which, over a period of 6 years commencing from April 2015, has awarded £1.202 billion to local enterprise partnerships covering Yorkshire and Northern Lincolnshire. This funding is helping deliver long term economic growth priorities including renewable energy in the Humber, food and agri-tech in York North Yorkshire and East Riding, and advanced manufacturing in Sheffield City Region. The government is also investing in finance and tech in Leeds City Region, including £3.7m to Leeds in March 2016 for a new city centre digital business incubator facility, and providing £50m for two new agricultural technology centres in North Yorkshire.

  • Rachel Reeves – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Rachel Reeves – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rachel Reeves on 2016-05-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how much new funding has been given to SMEs across the West Yorkshire Combined Authority to develop their workforces since the publication of the Long-Term Economic Plan for Yorkshire and Northern Lincolnshire in February 2015.

    Anna Soubry

    The Leeds City Region Skills Service has, to date, supported 620 businesses, with 3,300 pieces of training completed and 1,595 more underway. The value of this support to SMEs is £2.12m.

    In 2016/17 the Skills Service is expected to support skills diagnostics for 800 businesses, help 1,100 SMEs to offer apprenticeships and upskill 5,600 employees.

    Grants between £500 and £50,000 are available to match business investments in workforce training.

  • Peter Kyle – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Peter Kyle – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Peter Kyle on 2016-05-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, when officials of his Department last met representatives of the devolved administrations to discuss (a) how the apprenticeship levy will operate and (b) the proportion of the apprenticeship levy that each of the devolved administrations will receive.

    Nick Boles

    The digital apprenticeship service will support the English apprenticeship system from April 2017 and my officials engage regularly with their devolved administration counterparts to discuss the implementation of the apprenticeship levy and the new digital service.

    Apprenticeships are a devolved policy and the devolved administrations in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland will continue to determine their arrangements for supporting employers to access and pay for apprenticeships.

    Discussions are continuing with the devolved administration on funding arrangements.

  • Kevin Brennan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Kevin Brennan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevin Brennan on 2016-05-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, if he will make a comparative assessment of the effect of tariffs on steel imports in the EU and the US.

    Anna Soubry

    Each anti-dumping case is different. Moreover the levels of dumping and injury occurring in EU and US markets may be very different. The Government examines the evidence in all EU anti-dumping cases closely before taking a view.

    The Government believes that effective trade defence measures should be proportionate, not protectionist, and strike a balance between removing the injury to producers caused by dumping, and avoiding imposing unnecessary costs on user industries, retailers, consumers and the rest of the economy. The evidence we have to date is that duties that have been imposed on imports of Chinese steel into the EU have been effective in delivering rapid, substantial and sustained reductions in imports. For example, imports of wire rod, organic coated steel and stainless steel flat products are down by more than 90%.

    Where the European Commission has set duties that we believe to be too low to remove the injury caused to EU industry by dumped imports, we will push for them to be increased, as we have done in the reinforcing bar and cold rolled flat products cases.

  • Kevin Brennan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Kevin Brennan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevin Brennan on 2016-05-18.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what recent assessment he has made of the level of procurement of British steel by local authorities in the UK.

    Matthew Hancock

    The Government has not made an assessment of the level of procurement of British steel by local authorities in England and it does not collect or hold this information centrally.

    Last year Government issued guidance across central government, which sets out how government buyers should source steel for major projects in a more strategic and transparent way. This is underpinned by more detailed guidance explaining how Government departments should take into account the social impacts of competing suppliers as well as environmental factors for certain procurements involving steel.

    In April 2016, Government announced that the guidance on procuring steel would be extended to the wider public sector. We are working with key stakeholders to take this forward so that we can maximise take-up of the guidance across the wider public sector.

    As local government procurement policy is a devolved matter, it is for the devolved administrations of Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales to determine how they will conduct any assessment for their local authorities.

  • David Lammy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    David Lammy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Lammy on 2016-05-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what the British Business Bank’s (a) total operating budget, (b) budget for communications and (c) expenditure on third party communications consultancy and public relations agencies was in (i) 2014, (ii) 2015 and (iii) 2016.

    Anna Soubry

    The British Business Bank is a government-owned economic development bank that makes finance markets for smaller businesses work more effectively. It works with the market to increase awareness amongst smaller businesses about the available finance options.

    British Business Bank became fully operational on 1 November 2014. Therefore we are able to provide the information requested for the 5 month period ended 31 March 2015 and the 12 month period ended 31 March 2016. This is shown in the table below.

    Total Operating Budget in £000(a)

    Budget for Communications in £000 (b)

    Expenditure on 3rd Party Communications, Consultancy & PR agencies in £000 (c)

    5 months ended 31 March 2015

    9,606

    280

    280

    12 months ended 31 March 2016

    23,207

    895

    466

    *Please note that the Budget for Communications (b) includes salary related costs and Expenditure on 3rd Party Communications Consultancy and PR Agencies (c) does not.

  • David Lammy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    David Lammy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Lammy on 2016-05-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what UK Trade and Investment’s total (a) operating budget, (b) communications budget and (c) expenditure on third party communications consultancy and public relations agencies was in (i) 2014, (ii) 2015 and (iii) 2016.

    Anna Soubry

    UK Trade and Investment’s (UKTI) total (a1) operating budget, (b) communications budget and (c) expenditure on third party communications consultancy and public relations agencies in (i) 2014, (ii) 2015 and (iii) 2016 was as follows in the table below. We have also provided additional figures (a2) to reflect UKTI total associated operating costs which were allocated by parliament to UKTI’s parent departments, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills prior to 2015/16. These costs have been increasingly consolidated into UKTI operating budget over the last two years:

    2013/14(£m)

    2014/15(£m)

    2015/16 (£m)

    A1

    166.4

    271.9

    343.0

    A2

    209.6

    90.4

    –

    376.0

    362.3

    343.0

    B

    12.6

    4.1

    4.1

    C

    0.5

    3.8

    1.4
  • Jack Dromey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Jack Dromey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jack Dromey on 2016-05-18.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what level of funding was awarded to the UK from the DAPHNE and Progress programmes in each year to 2014; to which Departments this funding was awarded; and which regions received action grants under which headings.

    Matthew Hancock

    This information is not held centrally.

  • Mark Menzies – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Mark Menzies – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Menzies on 2016-05-18.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, which British Overseas Territories and Crown dependencies were invited to the UK Anti-Corruption Summit on 12 May 2016.

    Matthew Hancock

    Bermuda, Cayman Islands, Jersey, Isle of Man and Gibraltar were invited to the Anti-Corruption Summit.

  • Richard Burden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Richard Burden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2016-05-18.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will place in the Library copies of his letter to the hon. Member for Birmingham, Northfield of 4 May 2016 on local government and ethical procurement.

    Matthew Hancock

    I will place this correspondence in the Library as requested, following the end of the pre-referendum period.